The Man with the Snake-shaped Birthmark

Last updated on: July 2, 2017 at 3:48 pm By Agnes Howard

An 1839 bulletin from the prestigious Boston Medical and Surgical Journal (forerunner to the New England Journal of Medicine) tells the story of Robert H. Copeland, otherwise known as “The Snakeman.” Copeland was born in South Carolina in the early nineteenth century and moved to Georgia before the Civil War. His distinguishing feature and claim to fame was as a case of maternal impressions, a theory nearly every one credited well into the nineteenth century, including doctors, whose trust in it cemented... Read more

The Anxious Bench Half-Year in Review

Last updated on: June 30, 2017 at 5:27 pm By Chris Gehrz

Presenting our most popular posts halfway into a turbulent 2017. (Plus a few you might have missed the first time.) Read more

No Religion Higher Than Truth; or, Why Theosophy Matters

Last updated on: June 29, 2017 at 8:28 am By Philip Jenkins

Theosophy is (a) a fringe esoteric/religious movement founded in the 1870s, one of many such marginal sects; or (b) the indispensable key to understanding Western culture in the early twentieth century. I can make a case for either of these extreme statements, but the arguments for (b) are much stronger than you might think. I have argued for Theosophy’s role in raising awareness of the significance of alternative Jewish and Christian scriptures. But if you are interested in the years... Read more

The Democrats Have a Religion Problem. But They’re Not the Only Ones.

Last updated on: June 29, 2017 at 3:54 pm By Kristin Du Mez

So, you’ve probably heard by now: The Democrats have a religion problem. Historian Daniel K. Williams certainly isn’t the first to make this case, but in light of Jon Ossoff’s defeat in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District last week, Williams thought it an opportune moment to consider anew the Democrats’ problem. In a New York Times op-ed, Williams identifies “a generational and racial divide between a largely secular group of young, white party activists and an older electorate that is more... Read more

Wonder Woman and Complementarianism

Last updated on: June 30, 2017 at 12:37 pm By Beth Allison Barr

I found myself thinking about complementarianism while watching the new Wonder Woman movie. Read more

Christian Responses to Lindbergh: “The Recrudescence of Paganism”

Last updated on: July 10, 2017 at 8:08 pm By Chris Gehrz

Christians debated how to respond to Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. To some, the ensuing hero worship smacked of "paganism." Read more

“To Unite All Religion Against Irreligion”

Last updated on: June 25, 2017 at 10:59 pm By Thomas Albert Howard

Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 was a grand affair, celebrating (one year late) in the form of a world fair the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s voyages. For religious historians, the event is especially important because the Exposition hosted the World’s Parliament of Religions—the first ever, at least in terms of scale, interreligious dialogue among what was dubbed then “the ten great religions of the world.” I have been examining this “Parliament” lately for a project that I am doing on... Read more

Alternative Scriptures: Theosophy and the Esoteric Tradition

Last updated on: June 23, 2017 at 7:10 am By Philip Jenkins

I have been posting about the widespread knowledge of alternative gospels and scriptures that existed in Western culture over a century ago, roughly between 1870 and 1930. Whether we are looking at Gnostic and esoteric views of early Christianity, feminist interpretations of the role of Mary Magdalene, or the influence of Essene doctrine, very few ideas that we might today regard as radically modern and daring were in fact unfamiliar back then. Far from being confined to elite scholars, such... Read more

Bernie Sanders, Anti-Evangelical Bigot?

Last updated on: June 21, 2017 at 11:40 pm By johnturner

Senator Bernie Sanders opposed the nomination of Russell Vought as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget because of the way Vought supported his alma mater in its firing of Larycia Hawkins. Vought wrote the following for The Resurgent: Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned. Sanders declared that Vought’s comments were Islamophobic and therefore made him “really not someone... Read more

This Thai Is Not Like the Others

Last updated on: June 21, 2017 at 8:09 am By David Swartz

My research on the antitrafficking movement in Thailand primarily tracked American Christian networks. As I suspected, the many missionaries and humanitarians I interviewed represented remarkable diversity. Some, horrified by sex trafficking, emoted like the passionate evangelicals they were. Others articulated the structural causes of trafficking with considerable sophistication. Some prescribed spiritual conversion. Others recommended more rescues. Still others suggested preventative measures. As a historical “splitter,” I was inclined to notice considerable heterogeneity in my scholarly subjects. What I did not... Read more

How many books in the Bible are named after women?